


second best

by gamux



Category: The Yogscast
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-24
Updated: 2015-02-24
Packaged: 2018-03-14 21:57:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3427022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gamux/pseuds/gamux
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Because I’m always the second option, aren’t I? Always second best. Second to Henry, second to Lewis! I even come second to your precious lapis!"</p>
            </blockquote>





	second best

The three of them walk in the door, laughing and carrying on, whilst one solemn figure trails behind, keeping his head low, staying back. They all dust themselves off and hang up their coats, heading towards their beds for a well earned nights rest.

Martyn is the first to notice Toby’s silence. It’s not exactly unlike the younger to be silent, but normally he would’ve chipped in by now, just a few words, probably followed by some mocking or teasing from the trio.

But he hasn’t said a word since they left the iron mine, and it worries him. He frowns, eyeing the brunette. After he changes into his bedclothes Martyn approaches, placing a hand on his shoulder. Toby's skin is cold, but he's not sure who's fault that is.

"Hey, Toby, are you alright man?" he asks, shaking his shoulder slightly. His friend gives no response, blank gray eyes staring out the frosted window.

"Toby?" he tries again, a little louder, shaking a little harder. "C’mon, no need to give me the cold shoulder!" he chuckles at his own joke.

Toby shrugs his hand off and moves away, muttering, “Just leave me alone.”

He attempts to climb into the warmth of his waiting bed but it is broken under his frame and he falls to the floor with an ungraceful thump. Lewis and Henry laugh, amused by the successful prank, glancing at Martyn, expecting his laughter to join theirs. But he just swallows the lump thats formed in his throat and looks on as Toby picks himself up.

"Very funny, guys." he sighs, massaging his lower arm, running his eyes over the lightly bruised skin. "Absolutely hilarious."

"Wait," Henry feigns shock and innocence. "You think we broke your bed? No way, wasn’t us! It probably just gave up when it realized who was going to be sleeping in it!"

"Or collapsed under his weight." Lewis adds with a snicker, elbowing Henry in the side. Again they look at Martyn, waiting for him to join in and make his own joke, but again he says nothing and just stares at Toby.

"That’s nice." Toby says, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Can I have it back now?"

"I don’t know what-"

An arrow whizzes by Martyn’s head and buries itself in Toby’s exposed shoulder. He gives a grunt of pain and stumbles back. The other three are still lost in shock, reactions delayed, allowing the skeleton to fire off another shot and Toby falls to the floor, health depleted.

Finally his limbs respond and Martyn slices the skeleton’s bony head right off its spine. The energy dissipates from the bones and they fall in a pile, no longer supported by the dark magic. He kicks at them with an angry mutter and they scatter across the cold floor. Henry and Lewis exchange glances and shrug, saying goodnight to Martyn as they pass him, opting to share the same bunk bed for the night.

Martyn heads for the front door, getting there just in time to open it for a rather disgruntled and frozen Toby. He walks right past him, shivering violently, going straight into the bedroom and picking up his broken bed.

Martyn follows, draping a blanket over his shoulders and trying to pull him into a hug to help warm him up. Toby resists, pushing him away roughly. The wall edge digs into Martyn’s back and he crosses his arms with a huff.

"C’mon, Toby, I’m only trying to help!"

"Since when did you care?" Toby asks, glancing over his shoulder.

Martyn’s mouth drops open as he is shocked beyond words or actions for the second time in as many minutes. He plants two shaky hands on Toby’s shoulders firmly, not letting him escape.

"You’re kidding, right? Of course I care about you man, you’re my best friend! I’ve always cared about you!"

Toby hums a sarcastic ‘mmhmm’ and rolls his eyes a little, wriggling out of Martyn’s grasp and crossing the main room. He places his bed down on the other side, where the stocking stuffers sit in their frames. He makes a point to face away from Martyn as he lies down.

"…Well, goodnight then." Martyn says awkwardly, shuffling off to his own bed.

Toby ignores him.

/\/\/\/\/\

The explosion rouses him from the grasp of sleep, but its the shouting that prompts him to fling back the covers and race out into the main room. He finds a gaping hole in the front of the house that he’s sure wasn’t there before. A figure stands above it.

The Grinch.

Toby’s bed lies broken on the ground again, but the boy himself is nowhere to be seen. The Grinch quirks an eyebrow, noticing Martyn’s face gain a confused and scared expression as he glance over the mess of broken planks and wool. He chuckles, drawing the blonde’s attention to him.

"Looking for this, maybe?" he teases, pulling a familiar face out from behind a wall. Toby looks dishevelled, clothes thrown on in haste, fearful eyes flicking between the one who holds him captive and the friend he hopes, but somewhat doesn’t believe, will save him.

"Grinch! Let him go!" Martyn growls, brandishing his sword.

The Grinch chuckles darkly again, wagging a finger at him. “Certainly not! You’ll have to come get him!”

Just as Martyn begins running towards the pair the Grinch somehow flies up and into the skies, taking Toby along for the ride. He yells for Martyn and his friend yells right back. Martyn leaps out the whole in the wall but trips, falling to his knees in the snow. He picks himself up and brushes himself off, looking up and searching for the two of them, but while his attention was diverted they disappeared into the dark blanket of the night. He equips his armour, and steadies the sword in his hand, beginning his trudge through the thick snow to the Grinch’s cave.

He’s going to save Toby.

/\/\/\/\/\

The light coming from the main part of the cave is bright, a lot brighter than ever before, and he’s only slightly surprised to find a pool of lava in the centre of the room. Toby sits huddled in a cage on one side of a platform over the lava, something indescribable and hidden on the opposite side on a pedestal. The Grinch waits in his throne far above the ground, grinning like the cheshire cat when Martyn enters.

"So nice of you to join us!" he greets slyly, leaning back in his throne. "Go on then, try to rescue your friend."

Martyn gives him a hard glare and climbs the ladder to the platform. A narrow bridge connects it to the one Toby waits on. He puts his arms out and hunches over a bit to give himself some extra balance, expecting arrows to come shooting out of the walls at him. When he reaches the other platform without encountering any complications he looks at the Grinch, who merely grins at him again, light from the lava glinting off his teeth.

He takes a step towards Toby.

"Wait a second." Martyn freezes in place. The Grinch sits up, hand hovering over a lever on the wall next to him. "I’ve got something to show you."

He pulls the lever and Martyn tenses, waiting for the trap, but all it does is make the sand on the far side of the platform fall away to reveal…

A piece of polished lapis, carved into the shape of the sapling symbol.

Martyn’s jaw drops and he turns on his heel, walking towards it, completely entranced. Toby whispers his name with a heartbroken voice and it breaks the trance. He whirls back around to face the brunette, then looks at the Grinch.

"What’s the catch?" he asks, squinting.

The Grinch shrugs and points upwards. Martyn looks up, and yelps as a drop of lava lands at his feet.

"You’ve only got time to save one. Toby will respawn back at the start. I’ve surrounded the area with an bedrock dome and filled it with lava, so if he dies here he’ll have to suffer through a cycle of continuous fiery pain. If the lapis burns it’s gone forever. It took my underlings ages to make that and I won’t waste time making another. Have fun!" With that, the Grinch disappears.

Martyn starts to fret, shuffling from one foot to the other, heading to one side then instantly changing his mind and turning around. He continues to pace for a while, losing precious seconds as the lava slowly drips down. He takes an extra step towards the lapis and hears Toby sigh.

"Fine. Choose the lapis. Take it and run." He mutters, a resigned look on his tired face. His head drops as he lightly kicks the wood beneath his feet absentmindedly. "Don’t worry about me. I don’t mind being second best."

"Toby." Martyn says with a steel edge to his voice. Toby lifts his head just as the iron bars that form his cage break, Martyn holding his pickaxe triumphantly in one hand. He extends his free hand and Toby takes it. Martyn pulls him up and forward, pressing a quick kiss to his forehead before they both dash over the narrow bridge as the lava reaches them. They make it, barely, landing at the bottom of the ladder just as the wooden platform catches fire.

Martyn whoops, punching the air, swinging Toby around in glee. Toby laughs along with him, grateful tears stinging the corners of his eyes. The blonde wipes them away, pulling him into a hug.

"I was really scared there. I really thought you were going to choose the lapis over me. You killed me over a misplaced chunk of the stuff before, so I wouldn’t have been surprised."

"I’m sorry, Toby." Martyn whispers in his ear. "I really am." He pulls back and presses his forehead against his friend’s, looking into his eyes. "You’re not my second option, okay? I mean it when I say I care about you. We’re just joking around, but I guess it can be a little much at times. I’ll talk to the others, see if we can’t tone it down."

Toby smiles. “I’d like that.”

Martyn gives a toothy grin and grabs his hand, pulling him away from the lava and to the exit.

"Come on. Let’s get back to the house."


End file.
